Dear Students,

First of all, I hope and wish that you are well, that you and your families are healthy and that you have enjoyed and recovered from the vacation season.

For the second time, I am addressing you today through this medium with this message because it is not possible for all of us to meet in person and physically at SZTU. The Corona crisis continues to confront all of us with a task of historic proportions, and our entire notion of normality, of public life, of social togetherness - all of that has been and continues to be put to the test as never before.

I already addressed these last sentences to you in a similar form two years ago, and now I have to conclude that the hope formulated at that time of a return to normality soon has not been fulfilled and will probably not be fulfilled for some time to come.

I have been in Germany since the beginning of the year and am confronted with exorbitantly high Omicron - Corona figures throughout Europe compared to China and send you this greeting from my home office in Regensburg.

Dear students, since the coronavirus - not least due to mutations - obviously leads to outbreaks again and again, the classes in the new semester will be held in online form instead of face-to-face classes for the next two to three weeks.

I hope and wish for all of us that you will be able to interact with your teachers in the classroom again as soon as possible and that reasonably normal conversations and social encounters will be possible.

My dear students, do not be discouraged, we will all overcome this challenge as well. I ask you to be patient, be confident, take as an example the participants in the Winter Olympics who also had to face some adversities and be optimistic.

I wish you a happy semester with interesting courses and exciting content that will bring you many new insights.

Best regards

Holger Haldenwang

Dean

February 22, 2022